About Louniel Waterfall
Louniel Waterfall (I’ve also seen it spelled Lenuanatuaiu Waterfall) was really our waterfalling excuse to praise the Mt Yasur Volcano, which like the waterfall was also on Tanna Island.
That said, it turned out that the falls itself was no slouch as it was probably the most vertical and classical of the waterfalls we had visited during our short trip to Vanuatu.
Thus, we found it to be one of the more photogenic and unspoiled waterfalls that we’ve come across.
A further bonus was that we got to cool off from the tropical heat and humidity in the cool spray and plunge pool of the falls itself.
On top of that, we even got to enjoy the Louniel Beach, which was a black sand beach where the South Pacific Ocean pounded Tanna Island’s eastern shores.
So all around, Julie and I were quite pleasantly surprised with this visit, and yet it was merely the opening act to the twilight spectacle that was the unforgettable Mt Yasur.
Convenient Logistics
The thing about the Louniel Waterfall excursion was that we managed to do it in the morning while doing the Mt Yasur Volcano in the twlight hours.
We really didn’t have a choice since we only had one full day on Tanna Island given the infrequent flight schedules.
I believe they only flew three times a week between Port Vila and the White Grass Airport on Tanna.
In hindsight, I can imagine that had we been able to spend another night on Tanna Island, we probably could have visited at least one or two more waterfalls.
We might have even been able to partake in a kava drinking ceremony, but I digress.
The bottom line was that the Louniel Waterfall excursion was certainly worthwhile and it definitely fit within a day that included a visit to Yasur at twilight.
After booking our tour through the resort (we had stayed near the airport mostly for logistical reasons), we were then picked up the following morning at about 8am.
There was some uncertainty regarding whether we’d be done with our excursion before the Mt Yasur departure time of 2:30pm or 3pm.
However, it turned out that we made it back to our accommodation at White Grass by 1:30pm, which was plenty of time to have a late lunch before our tour to Mt Yasur.
So I guess depending on how much time one would want to spend at the beach, the duration of the Louniel Waterfall and Louniel Beach excursion could easily be as little as 4.5 hours or as long as 6.5 hours.
Our driver seemed pretty flexible.
The Louniel Waterfall Excursion
So after being picked up from the resort, we then were driven on a fairly dusty and bumpy road towards the eastern side of Tanna Island.
After roughly 30 minutes on the unsealed road, we then went onto a much narrower and rougher bush road leading to the Louniel Village.
That was when we were greeted by three local kids from the village who turned out to be our guides.
After a few more minutes of driving on “roads” that seemed more like a foot path than a place a 4wd could go, the car then stopped at a somewhat unmarked and unassuming spot in the jungle (roughly an hour from the time we left the resort).
At that point, the driver stayed behind and we followed the three kids on a steep downhill path going right into a thick bush-clad gorge.
We had worn reef shoes on this excursion so we had to tread carefully on the steep and potentially slippery trail, but the kids were either barefoot or in flip-flops, which attested to how well they have adapted to their environment.
Roughly 15 minutes later, we made it to the bottom of the trail, which was right in front of the impressively tall Louniel Waterfall (possibly 20-30m in height).
We had probably spent the better part of an hour cooling off in the cold stream at the base of the falls.
Meanwhile, the kids were busy playing in the water as well as showing us how they could catch fish with their bare hands.
Since this was more of a traditional hike (as opposed to a river float or swimming excursion), we were able to bring a tripod along with my DSLR camera to capture the action.
For once, a dry bag wasn’t necessary.
After having our fill of the falls, we then returned to the awaiting truck after 15 minutes of heavy breathing from the all-uphill climb.
At that point, we were then driven onto a different bush track that eventually led to a clearing surrounded by palm trees with coconuts as well as grazing cows.
And from there, we hiked down another 15 minutes to the black sand Louniel Beach, where we would relax for the next hour or so.
After chillaxing at the beach, we then returned to the 4wd vehicle to head back to the resort.
Authorities
The Louniel Waterfall resides near the Louniel Village on Tanna Island, Vanuatu. We booked this excursion through our accommodation, which is the White Grass Resort in partnership with the chief of the Louniel Village. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, visit their website.
Since we didn’t self drive Tanna Island (I’m not even sure that’s possible for most tourists given how undeveloped it was), I’d imagine the Louniel Waterfall would only be accessible by tour.
The trip cost covered fuel and kastom (landowner) fees, and I believe each of us had to spend 6500 vatu.
We spent about 5.5 hours on this tour (including the nearly one-hour transport in each direction as well as the 30-minute drive from the waterfall trailhead to the beach trailhead) starting at 8am and ending at about 1:30pm.
We made sure we left enough time for the separate Mt Yasur twilight excursion (13,125 VT per person), which we believe was the must-do once-in-a-lifetime activity of Tanna Island (let alone Vanuatu itself).
That drive took roughly 2 hours in each direction to get from the White Grass Airport to Mt Yasur’s crater.
We were dropped off about 150m from the active vent (less than 15 minutes walk).
We left the resort at 3pm and returned at about 8:45pm, where the resort accommodated us for the late dinner.
Just to give you an idea of the geography, we stayed on the western side of Tanna Island at the White Grass Ocean Resort and Spa near the airport. We flew here from Port Vila (on the main island of Efate) on a roughly one-hour flight.
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Downstream to upstream sweep of the waterfall seen from a bit downstream of the swimming hole at the base of the falls
Downstream to upstream sweep of Louniel Falls, but this time, it's taken from the plunge pool right at the waterfall's base
On the same day we visited the Louniel Waterfall on Tanna Island, we also went to Mt Yasur at twilight to peer right into its active crater after dark
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